Cazador Wins
I had the absolutely worst idea that I don’t think I have the heart to write it up properly.
tw: torture, death, the worst ending possible
Astarion’s siblings succeed in kidnaping him from your camp and brining him back to Cazador. But he resists Cazador’s commands and proves that he can’t control Astarion any more. Of course this makes Cazador livid but he doesn’t have time to solve this issue he has a ritual to complete. He keeps Astarion in complete agony torturing him and taking his frustration out on him. He asks Astarion why he’s so convinced Tav would come looking for him. Astarion breaks down crying that Tav loves him. Of course Cazador laughs at this but it gets under his skin. Astarion belongs to him and as long as Tav’s around it seems his favored spawn has the means to resist him.
“They love me. And no matter what you do you can not take that away from me. Someone in this world looked at me saw me for who I really am, all of it the good and the bad and they chose me.”
So he sets up a trap. Tav and the team infiltrate his castle using well placed clues and have to fight off a few minor minions, just enough not to be suspicious. When they get to the ritual chamber Astarion isn’t in his position as a ritual component. He’s chained down next to Cazador in a pool of blood. Tav and friends fight hard but they rushed into this too quickly so desperate to get Astarion back. Their friends are just simply slaughtered but Tav is brought before Cazador. They’re turned into a vampire and then the ritual symbol is carved into their back.
They see the blood mess where Cazador had flayed Astarion’s scars off. So he could keep Astarion once he’d acceded. So he’d have centuries to break his favorite toy again. Cazador make a whole show of it, draining tav in front of Astarion, offering him a drop of their blood one last time just to laugh in his face. Immobilizing them and taking his time with the ritual symbols. Then sending them to their place and completing the ritual.
Maybe with his new powers Cazador is able to overcome the tadpole. Maybe not. Maybe he takes the netherstone and artifact from Tav’s body and pieces it together. Maybe he works with the emperor and rids everyone of the tadpoles so he can finally have complete control over Astarion. Of course this whole time he has Astarion impaled in a coffin deep underground where he’ll keep him for at least 5 years this time to ensure his obedience.
